Category Archives: Tax and Insurance

Darryl Strawberry
Dodgers star, Darryl Strawberry first got in to trouble with the IRS in 1994 when he was put under investigation for tax fraud. The IRS tacked him with tax evasion, and he had to pay back $350,000 in back taxes, serve 3 years of probation, six years of home confinement, and complete 100 hours of community service.

2. Lawrence Taylor
Former Giants linebacker, Lawrence Taylor filed an incorrect federal income tax return back in 1990. Taylor pleaded guilty to the tax charges in 1997, and was punished with three months house arrest, five years probation and 500 hours of community service for income tax evasion.

3. Pete Rose
Baseball favorite, Pete Rose, also got in to some trouble with the government in 1990, when he filed a false income tax return. Despite his celebrity status, Rose was sentenced to five months in a correctional facility, three months in a community treatment center, 1,000 hours of community service and a $50,000 fine.

4. Helio Castroneves
The recent controversy around Indy 500 racer Helio Castroneves and his supposed $5 million tax debt has shed light on the tax problems sports stars can get in to. He is currently being tried for evading taxes on a licensing deal that he claims to never have received a dime from. Only time will tell whether the Indy 500 and dancing with the stars celebrity actually committed the tax crime.

5. Willie McCovey
Hall of Famer Willie McCovey, like many other athletes who ran in to tax trouble, did so by forgetting to claim cash made during autograph signing. While McCovey pleaded guilty to the crime, he also claimed to have committed it unknowingly, since he had a professional handle his accounting. He was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $5,000.

6. O.J. Simpson
Although infamous for more than his athletic abilities, O.J. Simpson upset the IRS enough to be put on the California tax shame list. His tax debt was over $1.5 million, and he stayed on the list for more than a year.

7. Jesse Owens
The late 1930s Olympic winner Jesse Owens got himself into trouble with the IRS. After the Olympics, Owens tried multiple business ventures in the United States to profit off his newly found fame. However, one of his ventures lost Owens a fortune and rendered him unable to pay his full tax liability. As a result, Owens was forced to declare bankruptcy.

8. Boris Becker
Famed tennis player and bad boy, Boris Becker, ran right in to tax trouble when it was discovered his apartment was not his priority residence, as previously claimed. As a result, he was given two years probation, fined $500,000, and ordered to pay expensive court fees.

iPhone Insurance companies are fighting back against those customers who claimed that they had lost their new iPhone. Unfortunately, some iPhone insurance companies did not provide full protection in the event that their iPhone is lost. That is why when an iPhone user finds themselves in the situation where they had misplaced their iPhone, most of them take the decision to claim that their iPhone had been stolen. This is because they can make a claim on their iPhone insurance policy. Informing your insurance company that your iPhone had been stolen could be a real thorn for them.
Unfortunately, this may not be the case anymore. iPhone insurance companies are now doing their best in trying to seek out customers whom they believe that are making a false claim by stating that their iPhone has been stolen. Many iPhone insurance companies nowadays have more intelligent strategies to check if their customers have claimed an item has been stolen. They hire trained advisers to ask claimants certain questions about the alleged theft. Also how and when it took place. These trained advisers are trained to notice the same occurring patterns that are very common amongst false insurance claims.
But unfortunately, there are many iPhone users seem to be unaware that making a false claim will lead to a criminal conviction. That must be a real wake up call for those people who had a habit of making false claims that their iPhones, laptops were stolen. They would certainly have a criminal record and these might affect their future like when they have plans in applying for a job.

This is not just for iPhone insurance but it is also applicable for home insurance products, laptops and those things that have insurance. Insurance companies or providers are now turning to a zero tolerance with this type of offence. IPhone insurance companies require now a Police incident number before they can start processing your iPhone insurance claim. And in order for you to get a Police incident number, you have to make sure that you will have to report your iPhone as stolen to the Police and then make a statement to that effect. The Police now are also involved with insurance fraud of this nature. In this case, you are not just making your own criminal conviction for insurance fraud, but also this scenario could even get you into jail. This is all because your company did not cover you for the loss of your iPhone.

Life insurance fraud refers to illegal acts committed by those buying or selling life insurance policies. In-vestopedia defines five different types of buyer life insurance fraud, from accidental suicides to falsifying medical records. Find out more and learn about two of the more famous cases of life insurance fraud.

Types of life insurance buyer fraud

Post-dated life insurance: a policy that is purchased after the death of the insured person but appears to have been issued before their death.

False medical history:Withholding information about existing medical conditions, whether or not you smoke etc constitutes one of the most common types of fraud. Coming clean with your provider might mean that your premiums are more expensive but this cannot outweigh the risk of reduced or rejected claims. It is not uncommon for unscrupulous doctors to falsify medical records on behalf of buyers.

Murder for proceeds: In this instance the insured person (spouse, business partner etc) is murdered for their life insurance cover or a policy is taken out in somebodys name without their knowledge and they are subsequently murdered for the life cover payout.

Lack of insurable interest: Insurable interest stipulates that in order to buy a life insurance policy in somebodys name you have to be able to prove that that persons death would cause you financial distress.

Suicidal accidents: This occurs when a person commits suicide but tries to make it look like an accident in order to ensure that their family can claim their life insurance cover.

Faking death or disability:It is not unheard of for someone to fake either death or disability to claim insur-ance payouts for themselves or their families. People have also created fake identities which have been killed or died with the family claiming life insurance payouts.

Famous cases of life insurance fraud
John Darwin, a British teacher and prison officer died in a canoeing accident in 2002 but was discovered alive and well and arrested five years later. His wife, who had claimed his life insurance payout, said he had been secretly living in their house and the house next door. Both were sentenced to over six years in prison.

In 2008 Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were convicted of the murders of two homeless men, Paul Vados in 1999 and Kenneth McDavid in 2005. Both murders were staged as hit and run accidents. Multimillion dollar life insurance policies had been taken out on the men by Golay and Rutterschmidt.